Developer targets gateway tenants for med mart

The developer of Nashville’s proposed med mart is anticipating a pair of watershed announcements soon: Two key tenants tied to emerging technology and health care construction that will serve as portals to scores of major companies across the country.

Market Center Management Co. executives said they’re finalizing an agreement with an organization tied to emerging technologies that they expect to announce in the coming weeks. Another organization with ties to health care facility design and construction is further down the road, but med mart leaders say both will create momentum that goes beyond the size of their leases.

“There are things that will come out of this that will be industry-changing events,” said David Osborn, general manager of the planned center. “What we are interested in is more transformative things going on in the industry.”

One key is the escalating quest for “aggregators,” or tenants that by their nature draw larger webs of companies into the mart. This was previously exemplified in Market Center’s 2010 announcement of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society as a tenant. It’s a growing strategy for the Dallas developer, and one that sources say highlights what some of Nashville’s largest health care corporations are scrutinizing as they mull the merits of the project.

HIMSS, for example, hosts an annual “interoperability” conference where companies network with thousands of clients and link up their technology, demonstrating cutting-edge practices and leading to new innovation. The group behind that conference — coveted by local health care tech companies like Emdeon Inc. and M*Modal, as well as giants in other industries like Comcast — would have a year-round presence in Nashville.

Osborn said that means high amounts of foot traffic and the opportunity for companies to spur innovation right there at the med mart. The permanent location also means companies can do more targeted demonstrations of technology for key clients.

Sandy Vance, HIMSS director of global interoperability showcases, said it will draw a “perpetually changing crowd of health care providers” who want to see the latest in clinical information systems, radiology, electronic records, practice management, imaging and other areas.

So what kind of gamble is this aggregation strategy? It ultimately depends on the quality of players Market Center attracts.

A range of companies in health care and technology sing the praises of HIMSS and its conferences, for instance.

Tommy Lewis, senior vice president of communications for Emdeon, said that through HIMSS the Nashville provider of payment software and other services does in a few days what would mean untold numbers of sales trips.

“We definitely find a lot of value and importance there,” he said.

Richard Close, a health care technology analyst for Nashville investment bank Avondale Partners, still sees a mixed bag. He said high-tech tenants and customers could find a year-round presence like HIMSS useful, while other sectors — buying of basic medical supplies and advanced medical devices, for instance — are often subject to group purchasing that could short-circuit the med mart’s usefulness.

“It’s yet to be seen if that is going to be a viable way to attract buyers, (and) also to attract the vendors as well,” Close said. “You have got to have the foot traffic in there.”

Market Center executives said that’s exactly what they’re shooting for: the right combination to guarantee demand.

Sources close to major Nashville health care companies said area executives are awaiting signs of a critical mass or unique blend that goes beyond what they can already find locally or through other buying opportunities.

Osborn said the “aggregation” strategy was an early concept given long-time interest in HIMSS. But the future aggregators show how valuable the strategy could be, Market Center executives said.

Ultimately, the strategy is part of a larger framework, they said, with company showrooms, education, exhibition space and other draws all part of the mix.

Conference success

The challenge for Market Center Management is to translate the HIMSS conference into a successful year-round presence, and to land more tenants like it. Here’s a look at what a few companies had to say about the conference, where a wide spectrum of businesses test and demonstrate their products and court thousands of customers:

• Emdeon: “What that does is it allows (us) to have one venue (where) we can meet with our customers and prospects.” — Tommy Lewis, senior vice president of corporate communications, who said the Nashville provider of payment systems is still considering what role it could play in the med mart.

• Comcast: “It is a concentration of the folks we’re trying to reach.” — Corey Eng, vice president of marketing for Comcast Business Solutions, which is working to tap the health care industry with its high-level broadband Internet technology.

• M*Modal Inc.: “HIMSS is a great convener of thought leaders in health care (information technology). ... Every day is jam packed.” — Mike Raymer, senior vice president of solutions management for the medical records technology company, who said he’s waiting to see what about the conference does and doesn’t translate well into the med mart.